New body to study Himalayan glaciers: Jairam

New Delhi: India will have its own body to assess the impact of climate change on Himalayan glaciers, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh announced on Thursday, adding its research would be more "robust and solid" than that of the IPCC which is under attack.

Ramesh made it clear that a large country like India cannot depend only on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projections after the "goof-up" on Himalayan glaciers by the UN body headed by India's R K Pachauri.

Announcing the setting up of the National Institute of Himalayan Glaciology at Dehradun in Uttarakhand, Ramesh took a dig at the wrong projections on the Himalayan glaciers by the IPCC saying climate science and climate evangelism are not same.

"Health of glaciers are cause for concern. They are melting, retreating, threatening our water security and we have to be cautious. But we are now setting up a National Institute of Himalayan Glaciology in Dehra Dun for monitoring, modelling and research," Ramesh told reporters.

"We should not depend only on reports from the UN body. Its fault was that it didn't do original research and derives assessments from published literature," he said.

On the eve of inauguration of a global event organized by the Energy and Resources Institutes (TERI) headed by Pachauri, Ramesh said the government supports Pachauri as IPCC chief at the highest level. Pachauri is facing calls for his resignation from a section of scientists. The event will be opened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

"The government backs Pachauri as the chief of the IPCC at the highest level. Past is past," said Ramesh, days after his criticism of Pachauri over "glaciergate".